


What a Wonderful World.

by SocialDisease609



Category: Terminator, Terminator - All Media Types
Genre: Colors au, F/F, No such thing as time travel AU, Slow Burn, Soulmates AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-30
Updated: 2020-01-21
Packaged: 2021-02-25 21:57:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 20,802
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21613369
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SocialDisease609/pseuds/SocialDisease609
Summary: Soulmates Color AU: In which you never see colors until you come in physical contact with your soulmate (edit: and soulmate touch feel real good!)No time travel here, just a basic soulmates AU where we're working hard to destroy Legion.After being attacked and left for dead, an injured Dani and Grace must make their way back to HQ from their crash site, through the woods, all the while bonding romantically and avoiding terminators.&Dani struggles with discovering Grace as her soulmate- basically has an existential crisis or something lol
Relationships: Grace & Dani Ramos, Grace/Dani Ramos
Comments: 82
Kudos: 242





	1. # Trees of Green

**Author's Note:**

> Got the title from "Somewhere Over the Rainbow", thinking about how terrible and drab the Terminator world already is, but if they can't see colors in a soulmate AU, seeing skies of blue and clouds of white.... it just struck me as what someone would feel if they did see colors for the first time. Cheesy, I know, but it felt right lol.

What a Wonderful World

It took three hours for them to clear the Terminator nest. They had recieved recon intel that five hours out was a small abandoned warehouse full of lower level Terminators. This model was what The Resistance compared to chess pawns, simply designed to draw fire and do first wave damage. While they weren’t the highest of threats, a terminator was a terminator, and all needed to be eradicated. 

Dani Ramos had become restless at her desk at headquarters, itching for a battle, itching to see the bright hue of a terminator’s eyes flicker and fade out. She was told they were red. The same color as the blood that spilled from her fallen soldiers. She watched the lights fade as if it were the equivilent to watching the soul leave the vessel of a human body. But Dani would never compare the machines to humans. They could never come close to being seeing as living creatures, and she would never be moved from that. 

However, Dani was drawing concern from her generals, who said she was becoming reckless, placing herself in missions that were too risky when they perfered she stayed in the public’s eye. The more she became a public symbol of hope, the less she fought. She needed to stay alive and boost morale and push paperwork. But that’s not why Dani started this resistance. She wanted to fight alongside everyone else, and no one was going to tell her to stand down. Besides, she needed to take her mind off of something.

She felt foolish about it, but … Dani was human and she was lonely. She often felt a pang of jealousy whenever someone in the community claimed that they had found their soulmate. She was jealous of a world of color and the unimaginable safety and comfort that came from being in a lover’s arms. Not just any lover, she had had that, but a _ true _ lover. Your destiny. 

She wasn’t in the smaller crowd, not many people found their soulmates anymore, not since Judgement Day. The odds of finding your soulmate in this age was as slim as winning the lottery in the dead age. 

“Commander.”

Dani almost jolted out of her daze, lost as she had been gazing upon the “corpse” of a terminator.

“Yes?” She asked, turning from the wreckage. A general stood in the doorway.

“It’s time to exfil,” he said. “All the soldiers are ready to start forming up.”

“Good. Thank you.” Was all she said. She followed the general out of the building, into the smoke and gravel ridden outside world. She quickly formulated the extraction plan, remembering that while they arrived on site with two aircrafts, one was destroyed in the fire. In total they had arrived with a squad of twenty soldiers, including her and her general. It took two pilots per craft, and there were only eight seats in the cargo area. They had lost seven soldiers in the fight. They would have to complete a second trip to extract everyone.

Outside she could see the soldiers crowding around together, punching each other in the arm or hugging festively. It was a small but great victory. An easy way to build combat experience and confidence in freshly trained troops.

“I need a volunteer!” Dani spoke out, her authority snaping the attention of everyone present to her. The soldiers scattered about in their clusters went to attention. 

Dani stopped in her tracks and clasped her hands behind her back. She inspected the quiet line of her soldiers, all of them focusing on displaying discipline instead of answering her call.

“I said,” she repeated, “I need a volunteer!” 

She could see their eyes shift amongst each other, knowing that they were hoping someone would step up so that they wouldn’t have to do whatever chore was about to come. She fought the urge to roll her eyes. She was about to open her mouth when two soldiers simultaneously stepped forward. A woman with incredibly short hair and a man with a very deep shadow of a beard coming through.

“I only need one,” Dani said. “You, step back.” She directed this command at the woman with the short hair, who obeyed with a crisp retreat. “You,” she directed to the man, “Will accompany the bodies of our fallen soldiers back to base. The dead should go home first, they paid a price you shouldn’t argue against. Instruct the pilots of your craft to return after refilling their tanks to come for the rest of us. After you land, you must notify the morticians to organize a ceremony for our fallen soldiers, and, if you will, soldier, report to personnel to start the process of notifying their next of kin.” 

The soldier’s face grew pale. Of course he wouldn’t be the one to knock on the doors of the families, that was up to Dani and her team of officers, but to have the ball rolling for when she got there was just one thing to make that difficult task easier. 

“Yes, Commander,” The soldier said with a salute. 

“Everyone else, let’s help him collect our departed.” Dani knew it was a morbid task, but this was war, and it had to be done. All she could think about at the end of a victorious battle was how she would want her loved ones brought back for an honorable burial and closure. Not to mention it, the task reminded her soldiers that this was not a game. Everyone needed a reminder of mortality and why this fight was so precious in the end. 

It only took them a quarter of an hour to prepare their dead on stretchers and gently lay them on the floor of their last aircraft. Quick words of honor and gratitude were said above their corpses by Dani and any other soldier who knew the departed personally. After that, the aircraft departed and then… it was simply a waiting game. Five hours for the craft to arrive at the forward station, five hours for it to return to them. Dani ordered everyone inside to break with rations and camaraderie… well, what happiness they could have among the existing fellowship. 

The soldiers kept to themselves in a corner far opposite of Dani and her general, sticking to the old time tradition of separation between enlisted and commissioned. However, it did get a little lonely, as both officers felt heart-heavy, looking upon the smiling and laughing group of the soldiers, laughing over some silly joke. 

Dani got up first.

“Wha- What are you doing, Commander?” asked her General.

“I’m going to join them. Let’s bond with our soldiers. It’ll be good for us.”

He seemed to hesitate, but stood up to follow Dani. 

They approached quietly, by nature, as soldiers had to learn to move as if they didn’t exist, all to be undetected by terminators out in the field. Dani could hear their conversation before they were even inside the huddled circle.

“I don’t know why anyone bothers with looking for their soulmate,” said one soldier. “There’s too much death for that to become the norm.”

“The norm?” rebutted another soldier in humored disgust. “It’s _ nature _. Nature doesn’t stop because of war.”

“But nature does evolve!” concluded the first soldier. “One day, no one will meet their soulmate, and nature will simply give up, leaving everyone to just find a partner who is good enough.” 

“That’s kind of what everyone does now.” 

Dani recognized the third speaker as the woman who volunteered early, but whom she dismissed from the task. 

“People pick someone who they’re attracted to, and whether the reason be physical or emotional or other is subjective per case.” The woman continued. 

“Oh? So you’ve done that?” teased a fourth soldier. 

“I mean, who hasn’t?” the woman answered, her complexion getting in her cheeks. 

“If you got to pick someone for life though, who would it be?” continued the fourth soldier, obviously in a joyous mood. 

“That’s hard, you can’t just make people pick on the spot, there’s a lot that would go into consideration.”

“Please,” groaned the second speaker. “Easy, hands down, I would pick Travis.”

“Shit, no way, the girl who works with the quartermaster?” asked the first soldier.

“Hell yeah, have you seen that ass?” 

Most of the soldiers laughed at the crude comment.

“That’s how you’d pick someone?” asked the woman with short hair. “Ass alone?”

“Ass alone, that’s all I need for life, baby,” he responded, raising his water canteen as if giving a toast. “Like I’m gonna be doing missionary all my life.”

“Who would you pick, Madison?” Another soldier asked.

“I have no one in mind,” she reassured. “And if I did, I definitely wouldn’t share that here.”

“Why not?”

“Please,” urged Missionary Man. “Don’t let her fool you, she’s just as shallow as the rest of us. You tease me about ass? I’ve seen you look around, Madison!”

Madison rolled her eyes, but smirked at the comment. Perhaps it wasn’t that far from the truth. 

“And your eyes don’t discriminate, _ Specialist Grace Madison _,” the soldier continued to taunt. “In fact, if you got to pick your partner for life, it would be Commander Ramos herself.” The cluster of soldiers broke out in ramble of comments, speaking over each other. Dani felt herself blush, her emotions full of flattery and violation. She realized they hadn’t noticed her and her fellow officer standing just outside their circle, waiting to be recognized.

“Don’t deny it, Madison!” The soldier continued to laugh. “I’ve seen you look! You look a lot!”

“Shut up!” Grace warned, jabbing an open palm against his armored chest. She was holding back a laugh though, Dani could tell from years of studying faces of countless soldiers. “Don’t say shit like that. Not while she’s…” Grace had now bothered to look around their surroundings, probably wondering if her superiors had noticed the loud squabble by now, and her eyes landed on Dani’s, and widened. “...here…”

Dani’s lips quirked as all the soldiers recognized her presence and shot to stand up, going to attention. 

“At ease…” she said quietly, although she wished she could have summoned a more authoritative aura at the moment. “What were you all talking about?” 

She knew, obviously, but she wanted to see what they would respond with. Test their courage and integrity. 

“We were… we were just talking about soulmates, Commander,” muttered the soldier who believed nature would evolve. 

“What of it?” Dani asked, her eyebrow raising in annoyance, because one: they told just a partial truth, and two: she hated the concept of soulmates.

“Just the odds, Commander. How low they are…”

“Has anyone here found their soulmate?” Dani asked, wondering out of masked jealousy. 

“No…” replied one.

“Not yet,” replied Grace, chiming in. “Have… what about you, Commander?”

_ Wouldn’t you like to know? _ Dani thought to herself, looking upon Grace’s face. She knew she couldn’t keep people from looking, she knew that from before the world ended, but… Dani never really liked having to witness people talking behind her back.

“No, and probably won’t,” Dani replied simply. “I agree the odds are very low. Best to just find someone who can take care of mature needs instead of dreaming of fairytale destinies.” 

The mood instantly became heavily somber. The soldiers didn’t know what to do next, or what to expect from this encounter.

“May we join you?” Dani asked after a beat. “Just until the pilots return?”

The soldiers stuttered at the request, moving out of attention to straighten the crates they were sitting on and began offering them to Dani and the other officer. 

“Of course, of course,” they all said at different times. Dani sat down on an offered seat and those who ended up without something to sit on took to the floor. 

It started off awkward at first, but they all soon found something that they could all easily talk about: dreams of when they won the world back, funny training stories, memories of before Judgement Day, their favorite books and movies. It was easier thought to bond over the past than the present or future.

Eventually the carrier had returned, ready to carry them all back home. They all climbed aboard, situating themselves snuggly in their chairs and strapping belts on, cheering and whooping at finally being able to go home. Dani was happy to go back too. She had left the office to take her mind off of her aching heart, the longing coming and going in episodes, but just ended up running into the topic she was running away from. 

Dani had lost track of time after they had taken off, deep in her mind doing mental cleanup, when she heard a panicked murmur from one of her pilots. 

“What’s wrong?” she asked, leaning over his chair. 

“Something has locked onto us,” he said through gritted teeth. “I’m gonna try to shake the missile, but I doubt it’ll be easy. Everyone needs too-”

“Got it,” Dani reassured, not needing him to finish his sentence. “Everyone,”she shouted down the belly of the plane. “Shake tactic. If you’re not secure in your seat, do so now!” 

The small talk happening in the plane died instantly as a wave of fear and professionalism crashed through, everyone tugging their belts to test their integrity. Strapping herself in as well, she prayed out of old habit to her higher power, hearing the whistle of a missile approach.

“Hold on!” Was all the pilot said before a side of the plane ruptured in fire and splinters and shards. Dani gasped out of survival instinct, taking in air as if she was going down into the sea, but only smoke filled her lungs instead of life-saving air. 

Then she could feel her surroundings begin to spin, and she couldn’t tell if they were losing control or if the pilot was trying to shake off a second missile. Her mind spun with her body, trying to figure out if the intel reports mentioned an anti-aircraft outpost in their planned path, but she couldn’t recall any facts now. Then her mind flooded her with images of Diego and Papi, long before Judgement Day, their smiles, their hugs, their laughs… and then everything went black.

Dani gasped dramatically as she came to, as if she were brought back through necromancy and took her first breath back from the dead. Alive again after what should have taken her out of this miserable world. 

Her eyes frantically searched her surroundings, and she could immediately recognize that she was in the wreckage of her plane. She was lying on her back on the floor of the plane. Somehow, she had come out of her seat belt. She turned her head to the left and right, seeing nothing but bodies around her. Everyone else had been shaken from their seats in the blast too. Perhaps the explosion of the crash had destroyed their seats and set them all free. One soldier was for sure gone into the afterlife, a metal shard protruding from his helmet. 

Dani tried to stand up, but a pain radiated through her right ankle, burning through her nervous system like an electric current. She reached out to soothe it, rubbing the ankle through her combat book delicately, looking for signs of breakage. She winced at the pain, hoping it was nothing more than a bad sprain. Not wanting to push the injury further, she sat up and dragged herself backwards, making her way from soldier to soldier to see if anyone else was alive. Her general was gone, blood crusting the crown of his head. 

Then she tried another soldier, and another, then-

A harrowing gasp sent shivers through Dani’s body. 

“Hello?” she asked, “Who’s alive?” 

She wanted to turn around quickly, but didn’t know the limits of her injured ankle, so she moved slowly. 

A soldier was writihng on the floor by the pilots, who were also, gone to the next world. The soldier groaned in a heartbreaking cry, and Grace wondered what horrific injury they suffered from. 

“I’m coming,” Dani said hurriedly. “Hold on, stay strong, soldier, I’m coming. Hold on for me.” 

“Help….” the soldier moaned. 

“I’m coming…” Dani dragged herself to the soldier, situated beside them. 

It was Specialist Madison. 

A small, immature part of Dani wanted to hold back all her care from this soldier, purely from that past conversation she practically eavesdropped on, but knew better. She was young, and right now, no comment was worth holding out on a fellow soldier. 

“I’m right here,” Dani said softly, “I’m gonna make you all better.” 

Grace, who had been squinting her eyes tight in pain finally opened them wide enough to register Dani beside her.

“Commander…” she groaned. “I’ll… I’ll be okay…”

Dani’s eyes looked down Grace’s body, looking for the injury. When she found it, she failed to hide her horror. A small sheet of metal had torn in the crash and pushed right through the one exposed spot of Grace’s kevlar chest armor, right above the hip. _ What luck _. Dani wondered how deep the piece went, so she slowly rolled Grace aside just a few inches to see if there was an exit wound. It had made its way through her, but just a small tip protruded through her. 

“It’s okay, Commander,” Grace continued, her voice shaking, speaking through her teeth as she tried to grit through the pain. 

“You’re…” to be honest, Dani knew she wasn’t equipped to treat this wound, and to make matters worse, when she looked towards the pilot’s seat, the first aid kid that was normally stored there was nowhere to be seen. She wondered where it had shaken to. 

Grace screamed behind her teeth as her abdomen spasmed, her body not knowing what to do. 

“You’ll be okay, Madison,” Dani said. “Everything’s going to be okay.”

Grace blinked, tears forming in her eyes. “I just wish… I just wish it didn’t hurt so bad.” Her voice was deep with the attempt of swallowing pain, but Dani could tell she was suffering greatly.

“Don’t pretend just because you’re in front of me,” Dani sympathized. “If it hurts, then express it. It’s better for you, don’t waste your energy on suppressing yourself. That robs your body of any energy it could use to help keep you alive.”

Grace’s hand made its way to the piece of metal sticking out of her. 

“No!” Dani swatted Grace’s hand away, but it was too late, Grace would be able to gauge the severity now.

She shook her head. “I’m not making it, Commander. Don’t lie to me… it’s okay to tell me the truth. Just… send me off.”

Dani looked upon her soldier, her heart plummeting. “Don’t leave me alone here, Madison. I need your help.”

“I can’t help you anymore,” Grace shut her eyes tightly, and then groaned deeply. “Please, just… send me off.”

Dani reached out for Grace’s hand, holding it like the chaplains would in the hospitals and then closed her eyes. 

“You fought bravely, Grace Madison,” she began, not wanting to open her eyes. She couldn’t make eye contact right now, she would be weeping before she finished her sentence. “The Resistance would not have made it this far without you and your sacrifice. Everything you did, even leading up to this moment, has brought humanity so much closer to victory. Your death will not go in vain…” Grace tightened their grip, but Dani kept her eyes closed, tighter this time, knowing that this soldier was coming to terms with the word _ death _, “We will win, that is the ending that you have given us.”

Grace’s breath was shaky, but more relaxed. 

Nervously, Dani opened an eye, curious if the soldier was now passing. She wondered if this situation had moved her more emotionally than she anticipated, as her vision felt weird. It was incredibly blurry, so she blinked rapidly, trying to bring her vision to focus. Maybe she had a concussion? With enough blinks, her vision began to clear up, and she took a sigh of relief when it felt normal. The rubble seemed clearer however, all the shades of grey seeming on a larger palette. It fascinated her.

“Oh my god…” 

Dani turned her attention back to Grace, horrified that the soldier was still clinging to life. And that’s when she noticed. Grace’s hair… her eyes… the blood on coming down from her hairline. 

The colors began to bleed into focus like watercolor paint on paper. 

Dani’s heart beat wildly, her mind struggling to comprehend this truth in a panic.

“You can’t be…” Dani whispered. She dropped Grace’s hand, fumbling now at the wound at Grace’s side. She couldn’t- she couldn’t let her go. She couldn’t. She couldn’t. Not now. Not now after finally finding what had caused her so much pain all these years. 

“I’m…” Grace was incredibly weak now, and Dani was entranced by the crimson pool underneath Grace’s body.

“Stay with me, Grace!” Dani shouted frantically. “Stay with me!”

“Com… commander…” 

“Please,” Dani pleaded, searching through everything within arms reach for the first aid kit. “Don’t go, Grace. Don’t go!” 

“I…”

A white metal tin with a red cross finally stood out underneath the lifeless form of the man who joked so freely about picking partners just hours before.

“Grace!” Dani began to drag her body in the direction of the kit. “Hold on! Hold on!”

She dragged herself to the tin with surprising speed and strength, ripping it from under the dead weight. Dani then realized there was no response. She snapped around, wincing at the pain she brought to her ankle.

“Grace? Grace?!” 

Her soldier, her _ soulmate _, said nothing in return, only laid on the ground silent, her eyes closed peacefully. 

Dani frantically pulled herself to Grace’s side and ripped open the kit. 

She couldn’t let death take her away. 

  
  
  



	2. # Red Roses Too

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Grace and Dani start their journey!
> 
> Kinda slowburn, headsup!

Grace didn't know how long it had been since she had passed out, but she figured it couldn't have been long, because when she opened her eyes again, stiffly shifting in a sitting position, she was still in the plane wreckage and Commander Ramos was kneeling in front of her, deep brown eyes scanning her face. Grace could see the black soot of the debris spotted about her Commander's rich complexion.

Grace shivered an exhale, and she didn't think it was from been weakened by her wound. 

"Grace?" Commander Ramos asked, worry laced in her voice. 

Grace blinked, recognizing the heavy effect of drugs as her eyelids fluttered with weight.

"How are you feeling?" 

"Sleepy, Commander," Grace answered, working hard not to slur. 

"Too sleepy? What about pain? Can you feel anything?" 

"No pain," Grace shook her head slowly.

"I may have given you too much of the painkiller," Ramos frowned. "There was a little manual," she reached into a pocket on her chest, pulling out a tiny red booklet, "that gave basic instructions on what to do for the most common types of battle injuries, so I just followed that… I have stopped the bleeding and closed the wound."

"Thank you," Grace smiled, grateful and a little blissfully high. 

The Commander nodded, looking away now, but her body still knelt close beside Grace. "We need to get out of here…" she then said, "I suspect there will be terminators coming to inspect the crash site, looking for survivors. It's just… gonna be a little bit of a challenge getting out."

Grace tried to shift, wanting to move her legs so she could stand up, but Ramos reached a stiff palm out to stop her.

"Are you sure you can get up? You have lost a lot of blood." 

"I will tough it out, Commander. We gotta get out, like you said." Grace grunted as she slowly rose to her feet, staying slightly hunched. Instinctually, she placed a hand over the wound. Through the unprotected portion of her kevlar, she could feel the gauze patch her leader had taped over the wound. 

Those brown eyes watched her stand, tentatively, and an eyebrow raised slightly as if preparing to argue. 

"Move slowly," she ordered.

"Yes, ma'am…"

Grace knew Commander Ramos had to be thinking it, but why hadn't she said something about it? She looked down at her soulmate, who spoke no word of their newly discovered bond, who now slowly pushed herself up on her own feet. Grace's eyes dropped to the ground, and noticed that Ramos's right foot had the sturdy splints of an aircast poking out of her combat boot. 

"That kit must have been a gold mine!" Grace laughed weakly, trying to fill the air with small talk.

"Yes, it has everything in the event of a disaster, from a thermal blanket, rope, flares, water purifying tablets, flint, and 5 days worth of rations for a single person… we will have to split meals on our journey back to base."

_ And the blanket _ , Grace thought. There was no way they were going to make it back to base by the end of the night in their state. Five hours via flight did not equal the same time by foot. Especially on injured foot. 

"Do you know which way we need to go, Commander?" 

"Yes," Ramos nodded. "I always keep a paper map on my person when I go on missions. While you were resting after receiving my treatment I looked over it. We need to head west."

"Got it," Grace leaned down for the tin first aid kit, and winced.

"Put it down," the Commander warned. 

Fear shivered through Grace, a habitual response from receiving a stern order from any officer. "Yes ma'am," she said, and dropped it instantly, the metal box clanking as it hit the rubble of the plane. 

Ramos limped over and reached down to pick it up herself. 

"Let me help with something," Grace almost pleaded. She didn't like being useless.

"You need to heal. Take a weapon, but sling it behind you. I will take point."

"With a box in one hand?" Grace didn't mean to sound  _ that _ annoyed, but now that it was said, there really was no better way to get the point across. 

The Commander turned cautiously, careful not to put too much weight on her bad foot. 

" _ Fine _ ," was all she said, and handed the kit out for Grace to take. The woman then pulled two rifles off of their fallen comrades, and while she did so, Grace took the opportunity to peek at the new colors around her. 

It was interesting. The plane was still black and grey, the damaged seats were black as well. The combat boots- black. Their uniform- black. It was interesting that everything that was dreadful remained just like it had been her whole life: drained, lifeless. Funny how it seemed, as she looked around, that only what was most important was in color: the first aid kit and her soulmate. She knew it was just a coincidence though, and was childishly eager to see the outside world. To see trees and grass and all the kinds of birds and bodies of water and the rare fruit that was born on the last living plant life. 

Ramos handed a rifle over, which Grace took delicately, draping the strap around herself and slinging the weapon to rest behind her. 

"Let's go," the Commander said sternly. She turned to lead the way, walking cautiously, putting good force on her capable foot, but a light graze with her injured one. 

"Yes ma'am," Grace replied. 

"Grace?"

Grace's attention perked. "Yes, Commander?"

"Just… call me Dani, okay?" 

_ There we go _ , Grace smiled to herself. But now was not the time to press about who they now were to each other. Grace could tell  _ Dani _ would need to feel safe and evacuated first before they would get to talk. 

"Okay, Dani."

Dani reached out for the emergency hatch and yanked the door open, fresh air and sharp beams of sunset rushed inside the belly of the fallen craft. Both Dani and Grace stood paralyzed.

They had seen nature before, in it’s multitude of grayscale, and they had heard all about the beauty of fall from others, but they weren't ready for the fact that fall leaves were indescribable, and with this cascading lighting, how could they not be stopped by their beauty?

“Do you…?” Dani asked, not turning to ask the question. Grace could feel the tension radiating of the short woman.

“I do,” Grace assured, “I do see them. The colors. They’re beautiful.” 

_ And we can see them because you had the heart to hold my hand. _

When Dani reached out to grip Grace’s hand, even Grace herself believed she was going to die. Her eyes fluttered from the weakness of bloodloss and the spasms in her muscles were to painful she felt she was going to pass out- but her war-addled mind told her that was just her mind trying to make things easier: tell her she’s just gonna blackout, but really, she was just going to close her eyes for the last time. But after one last spasm, making her eyes shut tight with tension, she decided to take one last gaze upon the world before she passed. There was no world to look at though, just Dani, kneeling and gripping their hands together fiercely, as if in passionate prayer. Her face began to blend into a smooth tan and her lips became painted with a natural deep hue of pink. Her cheeks, underneath the soot, were bright from exertion and adrenaline. Grace heard herself mutter “ _ Oh my God _ ,” scorned at the realization that the person she was meant for had been in her life for years, but never got to find her due to damn military protocol on keeping enlisted and officers separated. Now, as she lay dying, she got one big last fuck you from this cruel machine of a world. 

“I kind of don’t mind having to walk through this now,” Grace said, trying to lighten the mood. 

Dani made no comment, just began to move forward.

“So do you think scouts will be sent out for the black box?” Grace decided to ask. Maybe Dani still wasn’t ready to talk about this just yet.  _ Stick to familiarities... _

“I hope not,” Dani answered, walking with a hiss each time her right foot dragged with just a little bit of pressure. “I know it will help them get a radius of where we may be, but if they show up, they may arrive during a terminator’s search, and that will be more blood on my hands.”

_ Oh. _ Grace understood now. She couldn’t blame her for not taking any further interest in her immediately upon her waking. 

“It’s not your fault, Dani, no one knew there would be any anti-air defenses. They weren’t there bef-”

“It is my fault,” Dani cut with a seethe, and Grace wasn’t sure if it was from the pain in her foot this time. “If I had sent survivors first, it would just be… there would have been less deaths.”

“But Dani-”

“I got  _ an entire _ squad killed!” Dani turned around quick, forgetting about her injury in just that moment, but then toppled onto her knees when the pain struck her. Grace dropped down on one knee, wanting to have caught her, but her own injury held her back as well, so she just settled to speaking on an even level with Dani.

“It’s okay,” Grace soothed. She gripped Dani’s shoulder, gently rubbing it. Dani probably couldn’t feel much, thanks to her light kevlar armor, but it was the thought that counted. “No one is going to blame you, no one is going to say you failed in planning or giving orders or protecting us. The blood is always on the terminators’ hands.  _ Always _ . And we’re gonna get those fuckers, okay?” 

Dani was refusing to look in Grace’s eyes, but the soldier could see the shimmer in her leader’s eyes.  _ It’s okay to cry, too, _ she wanted to say, but knew that wasn’t always a winner in motivating people. 

“Come on, Dani,” Grace urged softly. “Let me help you up, we need to set up shelter before the sun is fully set.”

Dani nodded vigorously, holding a hand out for Grace to take, both of them getting up cautiously and in pain. 

“Is it broken?” Grace asked out of curiosity, eyeing Dani’s limp as she followed behind her. 

“I hope not,” Dani replied. “I’m praying for just a sprain.”

“Does it throb?”

Dani nodded firmly. “Really bad.”

“Are there any pain meds left?”

“The kit only had an intravenous supply, which I gave the majority of to you. There’s only one needle left. I’m saving it for something even worse than what you’ve got.”

“I think the only thing worse than what happened to me is what we both thought was gonna happen to me: death. Please, Dani, when we get a camp going, relieve your pain.”

“I’m saving it,” she repeated. 

Grace frowned. Selfishly, she just wanted Dani to relax. The universe wanted them together, and Dani didn’t necessarily seem eager to bond, not even with small talk. 

They trekked through the woods silently for a good half hour, keeping stoic, but internally enjoying the sound of crunching leaves beneath their boots, and looking at the sky evolve from orange to pink to purple. Night was coming, and they hadn’t found anything with suitable coverage yet.

“We might,” Dani took a breath before continuing. “We might have to just sleep next to a tree." They both were shining in sweat, as a normal hike because arduous on their injured forms, taking energy away from their bodies that were desperately trying to heal. Dani grimaced at her plan. “There’s… there’s nowhere to really go.”

Grace nodded. The odds were not favorable, but they had no choice but to make due. 

“We’ll use the leaves to not only help insolate our heat as we sleep, but to also hopefully camouflage us.” Dani put her hands on her hips, looking down at her foot, pain strewn across her face.”I just… I can’t walk anymore.”

“Lay down, Dani,” Grace said, gripping her own wound, which also wasn’t happy with the nature hike it endured. For a moment Grace was anxious Dani would find comfort in her military persona once more and becoming offended that she had the audacity to give her instructions. However, the officer’s wrath never crashed down, and Grace saw Dani picking a sturdy and wide tree trunk to sit down against, pulling the thermal blanket out of the first aid kit before practically squirming to lay down. 

She looked ready for bed. It was endearing.

Hunching her way over, Grace dragged the first aid kit to Dani’s feet. She could feel the Commander watch her curiously. 

“Foot up,” she instructed warmly. “You need to keep it elevated, and it seems the only treatment that foot’s gonna get is when we’re sleeping.” 

Dani obeyed, cautiously raising her leg to place her ankle on the kit. Then, with a ridiculously slow decline, Grace joined Dani’s side, getting as close as she could for practical warmth, but not too invasive. Being soulmates didn’t mean she had the right to Dani’s body or personal space whenever she wanted it. Dani was already working on unfolding the thermal blanket, so Grace worked on scooping leaves close to them without disturbing the illusion of naturally fallen leaves. it was a good thing there were piles upon piles within arms reach. After Dani had covered Grace with her share of the blanket, the soldier began dispersing the leaves on top of them, covering their bodies heartily, but leaving their heads exposed, just pillowed with the leaves.

She sensed Dani stiffen for a moment, and looked over to her. 

“The pain?” she asked.

Dani whispered a “yes”, biting her lip. “It comes and goes.”

“Well you let me know if you want the meds, it’s okay,” Grace offered.

Dani shook her head, moving on from the topic: “Tomorrow, we continue north, but we  _ must  _ find water. There is a river halfway between the nest we destroyed and our forward station. We’re bound to hit it.”

“Yes we will,” Grace affirmed for the both of them. “Everything is going to be okay.”

Dani nodded, looking up through the canopy of the woods, gazing at the now deep indigo sky peppered with bright white stars.

“It’s so similar but so much… more than the black night sky,” the Commander commented.

“Yes,” Grace agreed. “I noticed some similar things earlier too. But they don’t bother me. It’s beautiful, this world…” Grace felt a burning blush spread on her cheeks. “With you in it…” 

Dani said nothing, and Grace figured she would have to get used to this. After all, perhaps silence was better than outright rejection. 

Who would have known? Terminator-slaying, war hero Commander Ramos, the shyest person left on the planet. 


	3. # Skies of Blue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dani and Grace survive the woods, Day 1

Dani didn't sleep well at all. She constantly woke up from any twitching sound in the woods, and her ankle went through episodes of painful spasms. The only way she could describe it was that it felt like it was now slowly breaking in half. Grace on the other hand didn't seem to stir at all that night, completely still and heavy. 

Dani studied Grace's face as she slept,lit by the moon when the clouds would pass, thinking about the troublesome journey from the crash site. Grace had good intentions trying to lighten the mood, but Dani could feel her emotions take a defensive stance. 

Even though she had begun to hate the concept of soulmates, isn't this what she always wanted? To find her destiny among this desolate world? There was no comfort here, and in the most recent years, Dani had begun to lose the spark she had when she started this whole rebellion. All she wanted now was to just rest and never come back, swallowed into a deep depression, unable to get out of its waves. But here was fate, sleeping right next to her. Dani hated fate… but she knew she  _ couldn't  _ hate Grace. Grace and The Powers That Be were different entities, and Grace didn't deserve Dani's disdain for fate. 

Maybe Fate was having a laugh again, bringing Grace into her life at this moment. So many ups and downs, and she guessed it was the "balance of the universe". First the world ended, but she had her family. Then Diego and Papi were murdered by terminators. Then Dani found a band of survivors to hitchhike with, only for them to start stealing and hurting each other. After that, Dani had enough and killed her first terminator, the victory flooding her veins with adrenaline and hope. She created the rebellion. And that first year was probably the best she felt since before Judgement Day. But that was many years ago, and while ground was gained, it was also lost. An endless cycle of the same shit everyday. No real goal actually being achieved. Now, she had a small battle where her squad could gather their fragile morale, only for them all to die. Then she found her soulmate… what bad luck was coming next to balance this out? 

She thought about how horrible she had been feeling inside, and an ounce of what remained of her soul rejoiced at the future possibilities of having Grace now. Maybe it was hope slowly growing. Hope that she wouldn't feel so dead and hurt anymore… she'd feel better and happy again. 

_ Happiness… _

Dani's quizzical journey came to an end as another spasm wreaked havoc on her poor ankle. She couldn't stop crying out, no matter how hard she grit her teeth. The pain was too much. It echoed through the empty woods.

"Dani," pleaded a sleepy voice. Grace shifted beside her, trying to sit up. "Dani, take the medicine, please." 

"Go back to sleep," Dani growled, her teeth still clenched tight as the spasm ceased to release her muscle. She threw her head back, groaning. 

"Dani," Grace repeated again.

Dani let out a trembled gasps, her body finally relaxing as the spell left. "It's over," she whispered to more to herself.

"Has it been happening all night?" Grace asked, rubbing her eyes. 

"Yes," Dani shivered, enjoying the relief. 

"We should do something about it."

"There's nothing to do but give it rest, really," Dani said, keeping her voice low. 

Grace thought for a moment, then suggested, "Then you're gonna rest. We won't leave when the sun rises. We probably won't travel at all tomorrow. We will keep your foot up." 

Dani's eyes widened. "Are you out of your mind? We are really only about… an hour or less out of our crash site and you want to stay here when the day comes? The first 24 hours you want to put the most distance between yourself and a hostile zone."

Grace shrugged. "Guess we can leave a few hours before sunset, but all of the morning and all of noon, you are resting. No question."

"You don't really get to have the final say," Dani pursed her lips. 

"There's no rank in this situation, Dani. We gotta survive, and we're not gonna make it if you further injure yourself. And even if you closed my wound, I can't exert myself too much, either. All I'm asking for is half a day, Dani. We can relocate if you want, but actual travel? Not happening." 

Dani looked away and shook her head. Grace was right, and she felt immature for not liking it. It's just that… she didn't know what to do. About Grace. This just wasn't the right time, and she wasn't in the right mood.

"We can look for water, because we'll need it, but we should take care of ourselves. Our bodies will thank us." 

"Fine," Dani said. She was looking away still, but then got distracted by the stars again, swearing to god one was a faded shade of red. She read somewhere before planets could be seen in the night sky, but never got to see that when she had her previous vision. And then-

"Shit, Dani, are you okay?" 

Another cramp seized her ankle and she shut her eyes tight, leaves crunching in her fists, moaning through it. 

"Dani-"

"No!" She grunted, knowing exactly what Grace was going to say, then resumed to grit her teeth through the pain. She wasn't going to use the medicine, something worse was gonna happen, it always did. They needed to keep it. 

"Fine," Grace surrendered. 

Dani thought she had won and could suffer in peace when she felt Grace's hand place over her fist. 

"Hold my hand then, until it passes."

_ What?! _ Dani couldn't speak, all her energy needed to be focused on the pain. 

"You won't break my hand or anything, it's okay. It'll pass easier if you take it out on something besides yourself."

"And hurt you?" Dani questioned on a fragile breath. 

"I'll be okay," Grace said gently. Dani relaxed her fist just for the moment needed for Grace to put her hand in hers, then as the electric pain shot it's way through her muscle again, Dani's hand clasped instantly.

Grace hissed.

"I'm sorry," Dani muttered, about to relax her grasp.

"No, don't let go," Grace said. "Don't mind me." 

"This is ridiculous," Dani seethed. "Why does it hurt so much?" 

"Might be more than a sprain," Grace suggested. "Do you mind if I have a look?"

"What?"

"I'm just gonna have a look, I won't apply any pressure, don't worry. Just going to feel for where the most heat and swelling is."

"If it hurts-"

"I'll stop," Grace reassured gently, returning a squeeze to their clasped hands. Dani let out a controlled breath and nodded, releasing her hold of Grace. 

Just in that moment, the pain subsided with a wash of relief. Dani prayed another spasm wouldn't be on it's way. She watched Grace leave the nest of leaves they were snuggled into, frowning at the immediate decrease of warmth. The tall woman kneeled by Dani's propped foot, brushing some of the leaves away. 

"Hey, Dani? Toss me that little red book you've got?" 

Dani dug into her chest pocket and pulled it out, flinging it carefully to Grace, who caught it with both hands, clapping the flapping pages together like squashing a gnat. 

"I'm gonna hold your foot up for a second," she warned, and Dani braced for oncoming discomfort. However, Grace elevated her so slowly, and from her calf muscle, that she didn't feel any pain. The soldier held her leg up with one hand as the other hand dug through the first aid kit, it's contents clinking around through Grace's rigorous search. Dani wanted to warn her to be more quiet, but she felt she should bite her tongue, letting the soldier continue her kind gesture of helping. 

"Hey, Dani?" Grace said again.

"Do you approve what goes in these things?"

"In a way, but I delegated that to the Health Office."

"Well when we get back, tell them to add a fucking flashlight to the inventory," Grace muttered.

Dani chuckled, surprising even herself. 

"What kind of survival kit doesn't have a flashlight?" Grace continued, smiling now herself. She closed the tin box and put Dani's foot down again, as gently as she could. "I used to go camping with my parents, and it was  _ full camping _ . My dad wanted to teach me everything: knots, traps, safe to eat plants, how to fish, how to avoid predators, how to make a fire. During one particular time, my dad wanted to go all out and bought a survival kit that came with almost everything that came in here- minus the good drugs- and that thing had two flashlights and those glowstick things you crack. Our military?" Grace tsked, "We gotta do better, Dani." Grace said this with a lightheart and a faux smirk. 

"I'll add that to my list when we get back," Dani scoffed with the same light energy.

Grace's smile didn't leave her lips as she began working on untying Dani's boot. She pulled the black laces up in a long draw, the strings hanging in wide loops from the eyelets, making her way down to the bottom of the tongue. 

"Pulling it off now. This may sting, but tough it out for me, okay?" Grace said softly. "I've loosened it up as much as I can, just keep your leg up." 

Dani simply nodded, watching Grace get a good grip on the boot, and began a gentle tug. She was moving at a good speed, the boot sliding past the fabric of the combat sock effortlessly, but her foot still screamed at the dragging sensation. 

"Great, Dani, good job," Grace began working on the air cast, loosening the straps and sliding it off Dani's foot. "Now the sock, okay?" 

Dani sighed and threw her head back, getting ready for the dragging once again. Grace's fingers slipped under the band of the sock and she gently rolled it down, pulling off the sock in a clean motion. 

"Come on, moon," Grace whispered, waiting for the clouds to clear away from the moon. When the moonlight came throw, bringing the bright white beams through the bare fog of the night, Grace inspected the ankle.

Dani grimaced as she saw the color herself. The area of her ankle was completely purple and swollen. It was worse than she thought. Grace put Dani's foot on the tin kit again. She hovered her hands on either side of Dani's ankle, barely touching. Dani could feel how cool Grace's fingers were just from the mere graze in comparison to the heat radiating off her foot. Grace held her delicately, a hand sliding down the injured limb slowly, chilling the overheated area unintentionally, but to Dani’s silent pleasure. Her fingers explored cautiously, careful not to press. While Dani was distraught over her injury, a small sliver of her was grateful for it, because if Grace had touched her without an injury, she probably would have involuntarily kicked her like a rabbit. She was ridiculously ticklish, but now her body couldn’t register any overwhelming pleasure on sensitive skin. 

"Could be a really bad tear, Dani," Grace sighed honestly. "I am gonna have to  _ really _ emphasize that we don't travel at least for half the day. I'll like… find you a walking stick or something." 

Dani laughed through the pain of Grace replacing the sock and aircast. 

"Let's keep the boot off though, okay? Let it breathe." 

Grace now made her way back to their leaves and thermal blanket cocoon, moving just the right distance close to Dani without overstepping an unspoken line. Dani found herself happy for Grace's return. 

"We'll do our best to sleep, but if you need me again, don't feel bad about waking me up, okay? We're in this together."

Dani nodded, not wanting to comment on that. She couldn't. She wished Grace would stop with the implications… even if she didn't mean them, Dani couldn't handle this right now.

_ But in this world, when would be the right time? _

Dani shook the thought away and closed her eyes to try and sleep. 

When they woke up in the morning, Dani’s first action was to check her watch, reading 0939. They slept in too late. She shifted around to tap Grace awake. 

The blonde grumbled, rubbing her eyes as she sat up.

“How’s your foot? How did you sleep?” was the first thing she asked. Instantly Dani realized she had slept soundly after Grace helped her remove her boot. 

“I slept better, thank you. There’s no pain at the moment.”

“I think the night air really helped you out, since we lack a cool compress,” Grace explained, groggily removing herself from their makeshift bed. “When we find water, we’ll make a cooling rag for you, dip it in that freezing water.”

Dani would not reject that. Now that Grace mentioned it, she’d have to add compresses to the list of things that kit should have. 

Grace motioned for Dani to lift her foot off the kit for a second, eyes squinting with tiredness. She reached into the tin and pulled out a ration bag, then motioned for Dani to put her foot back down once she closed the lid. She then walked to Dani’s other side, not where she slept beside her, and knelt, trying to open the ration. 

“I’m gonna get another one here in a second,” Grace said, having to use her teeth to tear the bag. “Didn’t know why I didn’t take two, guess I’m too groggy.”

She was, and it strangely suited her. Dani watched Grace, all shaggy blonde hair, married with strands of light brown, tossed around into a bed head, her blue eyes peeking from her squint, shying away from the sunlight. 

Grace finally reached into the bag and pulled out the accessories pouch, pulling out a toothbrush and a small tube of toothpaste. “There you go, Dani,” Grace handed it out. “I’m gonna get me one from another pouch. I know we don’t have any water, but we gotta make do.” 

They washed up best they could before going through the meal kit Grace randomly selected. It was simple: two protein bars, a pouch of dried cranberries mixed with almonds, a pouch of applesauce, and a packet of coffee.

They ate in silence at first, letting themselves marvel at their newfound colors again, seeing the food they ate all the time look much more different. 

“I feel so stupid,” Grace laughed, breaking the silence. Dani looked up from inspecting the dark red shrivelled cranberries in her palm to pay attention. “I’m like ‘wow, a protein bar!’” Grace mocked her own excitement before biting into the bar, tearing it with her mouth like it was some stiff jerky. 

Dani chucked. “Everything’s new,” she said, “don’t let yourself not enjoy it.”

Grace’s eyes squinted in curiosity, probably piqued at this one possibly positive comment. She opened her mouth, ready to say something in return, when Dani put her hand up. 

It wasn’t necessarily because she was afraid to have this conversation, but because she heard something. When Dani didn't move her body, but her eyes scanned the perimeter, Grace caught on. Both women didn’t move, their ears tuning to anything they could catch. Perhaps Dani was wrong, maybe it was a deer or something… 

Her heart began to pound, waiting to hear the sound again. The sound of a machine, it’s internal engine making that telltale whirring noise as it’s limbs moved. Slowly, Grace got up from her spot, making her way to the guns they rested on the other side of the tree trunk. Dani remained in cover, waiting for Grace to return with the arms. But it was too fast-

Dani’s fear was realized as a terminator appeared, quickly rushing Grace, flingling the rifles from her hands, tackling her to the ground.

“Grace!” Dani shouted, her heart picking up dangerously and adrenaline broke through her nervous system. She stood up. Pain shot from her foot all the way up to her neck. But she had to push through that. Grace was wriggling on the ground, crisp leaves crunching and scattering underneath her, her feet kicking and her hands working on the terminator’s, which was trying to crush her throat. A battle roar emerged from Grace as she did all she could to keep the metal fingers from closing, but all she could do was buy herself time. 

_ Why is there only one?  _ Dani asked to herself, stumbling to pick up one of the rifles Grace had dropped. Dani shouldered it with expertise, taking aim. It was risky, but Dani never really missed her shot these days, and the right angle…

She pulled the trigger, the weapon blazing automatic fire, the bullets shredding the exoskeleton like sheet metal. The machine however, looked over to Dani for a brief second, and the red light- what had once just been a hue of light now brought menace to a color she was just admiring not too long ago. A sensation of fear shivered in her knees for just a moment before she continued fire. The Machine looked down at Grace, scanning her body. Both women knew what it was doing. It released one hand from Grace’s next, raising it as a fist in the air, more than likely locking on her abdominal injury. 

“Hell no, mothherfucker!” Dani shouted, changing her aim to fire upon it’s skull. The bullets pinged off it’s skull, a few succeeding in penetrating the weakening metal. It dropped its attack and looked at Dani, inspecting her now too. It then got up, leaving Grace on the ground, making a charge for Dani. 

“Dani, move!” Grace rasped. 

Dani knew she wouldn’t be fast enough to dodge, not with this foot, and the terminator knew it. It saw it. It ripped the rifle from her arms and flung it aside. Dani could hear Grace scramble about as the machine continued its advance, pushing Dani hard in the chest, causing her to fall. 

“Daniela Ramos, Commander of Human Resistance…” it registered in its dead voice. Dani was about to scramble away from it, but in pure violent fashion, the terminator lifted it’s leg, and brought its metal foot down on Dani’s ankle. 

Dani’s vision went out to white light, and she screamed dreadfully, a sob rising in her chest. Searing hot white pain burned through her foot as the machine added more pressure, waiting for it, waiting for it- there it was, a definitive crack, crunching the bone underneath it’s mechanical weight. 

She could hear Grace calling her name out repeatedly, but she couldn’t respond. Her mouth stayed open from her initial scream, full of so much pain but not enough strength in her vocal chords to express it. Eventually the ending point of a moan made it’s way from her throat, tears, sliding down her cheeks. 

She didn’t really notice when the terminator was no longer crushing her foot, or when Grace had regained a weapon, firing with a heavy finger, until the terminator lay unresponsive on the fall covered ground, the red eyes watching Dani cry out all the while, finally going out to black. 


	4. # Clouds of White

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dani and Grace finally have The Talk...

Grace ran over to Dani quickly, practically sliding on her knees, crunching leaves beneath her to get to her. 

“Dani? Dani?” Grace asked frantically, reaching for Dani’s face, trying to turn it to look at her while Dani squirmed on the ground. She was burning to the touch. “Dani. Dani look at me.”

Dani was gritting her teeth, her jaw set fiercely as she trembled from the pain, tears still streaming down her face. 

“God,” Grace breathed under her breath. “Dani, look, I’m gonna give you the last bit of the pain medicine, okay? But first, I have to check the damage. If there’s any resetting I can do.”

Dani didn’t object, just continued to squirm in stubbornly silent pain. Grace knew what she was doing, trying not to continue to alert any other terminators in the area to them. Even though they fired their weapons, her constant cries of pain would let them know that they were still alive. Grace went to inspect Dani’s foot.

“No open fractures, Dani, so that’s good. I’m just gonna-”

Dani hissed as Grace’s fingertips grazed the injured area. Grace froze. 

“I’m so sorry, Dani, I gotta do this, alright? I’m almost done checking.” 

Her fingers ran down Dani’s ankle, trying to feel for any foreign bumps, any clues to how the bone had broken. The aircast that Dani had equipped was shattered, and only held onto her foot simply because of the straps. Grace hoped that it was just the aircast after all that had cracked under the steel foot, but she couldn’t really tell. Even if that was the case, Dani’s injury was still worse than it had been before. She’d have to create a makeshift splint for Dani to replace the aircast. 

“Hold on tight, I’m gonna make a splint and get the kit, okay?”

Grace left Dani and fumbled through the first aid kit first., finding the fresh needle and syringe still in it’s packaging, a roll of gauze, then grabbed the small vial of medicine. She then quickly scoured the ground for thin sturdy branches, finding two suitable ones, then returned. When she made it back to Dani, she set each branch on the side of Dani’s foot, then reached for gauze, wrapping it tightly around the sticks to keep Dani’s foot at a 90 degree angle. She then reached for the Commander’s chest pocket, apologizing as she did so, so she could pull the red booklet out. She wanted to make sure she did this right. She couldn’t stand to see Dani this way.

“Dani, we don’t have an IV bag, so I’m just gonna stick it in your thigh, okay?”

Dani grumbled some sound that Grace had no choice but to take as consent. 

“I’m sorry, Dani,” Grace offered, as stabbed the syringe into Dani’s muscle through her trousers. Dani didn’t flinch. Probably whatever pain that she could have felt was completely unrecognizable under the immense waves of her broken ankle. 

“It’s gonna kick in in a few mins, okay?” Grace cooed, stroking some loose hairs from Dani’s face. “We have to go though, okay? I need you to hold onto the kit. Grip it to help with your pain, okay? We have to leave the guns, they’re out of ammo.”

“Where are we going?” Dani asked, her voice quiet and trembling. 

“To find water,” Grace explained, placing the now closed kit in Dani’s arms. The woman held onto it tightly. “We still have to make our way back to headquarters somehow.” 

Grace slipped her arms under Dani, who had tried to sit up in anticipation, and lifted her off the ground. 

“But your injury…” Dani had managed to whisper.

“I’ll be okay,” Grace assured in the same soft tone. She began to walk forward, 

“No you won’t.” 

“Don’t worry about me, Dani.”

Dani began to loosen up in her arms, becoming a bit more dead weight. As Grace continued through the woods, she looked down at Dani. She seemed sleepy and her grip on the kit wasn’t as vicious.

“Did I give you too much?” Grace asked. Dani murmured something. “Just sleep then, Dani. Just sleep.” 

Grace walked through the woods as fast as she could carrying a now slumbering Dani in her arms, going in the direction she knew. She wanted to marvel at the multiple colors of the leaves, but there wasn’t time to really stop, not until she found a water source for them, and she had been walking for three hours now. Her legs were feeling tingly and weak, sweat coated her entire body, sticking every article of clothing to her. Dani hadn’t stirred once from her sleep, although a few times had twitched as if suffering from a nightmare. 

In the side of her abdomen, Grace could feel her injury sting, and she prayed that the wound hadn’t reopened. If she started internally bleeding, they would both die here in the woods. She hoped the resistance HQ had sent out a search party. She didn’t know if they would actually make it home safe on foot in these conditions. 

As she continued her trek, doing her best to ignore her pain, she kept focus on her breathing, controlling it as best she could for distraction. But then, she thought of a better form of distraction: what neither her nor Dani had spoken about yet- they were soulmates. Finding your life partner in this world was so rare it was almost becoming urban legend, but now, Grace held hers in her arms. She brought a beautiful world of color to her life, just for the two of them to share with each other. Grace felt her heart warm at the thought. She knew Dani wasn’t necessarily warm towards her, and she understood in a way. Grace already had feelings for Dani, back when she was just war hero Commander Ramos, residing in her imagination in mild daydreams, but Dani had just now taken notice of Grace, and the first impression Grace put on her wasn’t the most flattering, talking about Dani in typical soldier gossip. But, she hoped that either they got to make it out of here alive and get a chance to get to know each other better, for destiny’s sake, or, if they weren’t going to make it, just be able to kiss those pink lips. Just once. She loved the pallet of color that Dani’s face brought, especially the shards of brown in the irises of her eyes. 

Grace took a deep sigh, tearing her attention away from Dani’s sleeping beauty, needing to keep her attention on the unknown wooden terrain, keeping her ears tuned for any sound of babbling brooks. 

But nothing of that sort appeared for Grace. No. But an abandoned cabin did.

Grace froze in her tracks. Was this real? After this world of complete destruction and desolation, she didn’t think she’d actually see any buildings from the old world still in tact. Granted, it was covered in foliage and the wooden structure could use a lot of repairs, but, it was a shelter, and one that seemed even undisturbed by the machines. 

Grace felt overcome by an instinct she hadn’t felt since Judgement Day. She wanted to tear it's cabinets and drawers to pieces. There had to be something useful in there. Something to help her and Dani increase their chances of surviving.

She readjusted how she was carrying Dani, before she made for the front door. She reached for the old door handle and tried to twist it, but the door wouldn’t open. 

_ Locked _ .

“Dani,” Grace whispered, trying to rouse the woman in her arms. “Dani… wake up.”

Dani’s eyes fluttered drowsily, hugging the kit against her chest, after it had become loose in her arms from the hours of sleep. 

“I have to put you down for a second, okay, Dani?” Grace kept her voice quiet.

“Where are we?” Dani mumbled, as Grace kneeled awkwardly to put Dani on the ground. 

“I haven’t found the stream yet, Dani, I’m sorry. But I found this cabin here… I’m hoping maybe there’s something inside that we can use. Something to drink or perhaps some medicine behind a bathroom mirror.” 

Dani nodded in sleepy understanding. “A shelter is a shelter,” she mumbled.

Grace reached for the door handle again, twisting it as much as it could turn and then began slamming her body against it. It only took two tries for the lock to give way, splintering from its hold. She took just one step inside the dark cabin, listening for any movement and checking to see what was in plain sight. It must had been a summer cabin for a family back in the day, old picture frames cluttered the fireplace mantle, covered in dust. There was an orange three-seater sofa in front of it, and a small table in the back with a couple chairs. The kitchen and sitting area was one shared space. To the left was a hallway that opened to what Grace could only assume was a bathroom and two bedrooms. 

“It looks like we’re in the clear, Dani,” Grace said, “I’m gonna bring you in and set you down on the couch. How’s your foot? For it’s situation…” 

“I can’t really feel it…” Dani admitted, putting an arm around Grace’s neck as the taller woman bent down to pick her up.

“That’s good,” Grace grunted, a sharp pain returning to her side as she carried Dani past the threshold of the cabin. 

“Grace,” Dani then said firmly. “We need to have a look at you.”

“I know,” Grace muttered, making it to the couch. “Let’s set you down…”

She placed Dani on the sofa gently, and as Dani tried to situate herself, Grace tucked a pillow under Dani’s foot. 

“Come on…” Dani then said. 

Grace stood in front of her and began to remove her light kevlar armored vest, quietly dropping it to the hardwood floor, then pulled up her black undershirt, exposing the area that Dani had stitched closed. It was a normal kind of red, a little blotchy, but to be honest, neither woman could tell if the injury had reopened.

“I guess if the redness grows further, we know we’re in trouble.” Dani said. 

“Yeah,” Grace said, rolling the garment back down. 

“Rest,” Dani commanded. But then- “If- if you want…” 

"I will,” Grace said, “I’m just gonna look through the house quickly though, I won’t take long. You just relax, okay?” 

“I’m tired of resting,” Dani grumbled. 

“I know,” Grace sympathized, “But after what happened to you, your body needs this. Just because you don’t feel any pain doesn’t mean your body still isn’t working overtime right now.” 

Dani didn’t say anything, but Grace could tell the Commander was trying to fight a pout. Without anything more to say, Grace began searching through the home.

It was a post-apocalyptic goldmine. There were three ten gallon water jugs, all still factory sealed, in the pantry, which, while still raided free of food from years ago, the water must have been too heavy for people to take with them when they were running away. 

Grace made her way to the bathroom, then stopped short at her reflection in the mirror above the sink. She then realized that this was the first time she saw her reflection since she gained her colors. She slowly reached up to touch her face as she looked upon her reflection. There was a natural pink hue under her cheeks, and her eyes were blue, but not like the shades she had seen in the sky. She ran another hand through her hair, absentmindedly twirling the dirty blond locks, separating the lighter strands from the multiple shades that were darker or in between.

_ Is this me? _

She then got struck by the exciting need to share, and found a small handheld mirror on the sink. She turned around out of the room and made her way back to Dani. She would raid the cabinets of the bathroom later, she just had to be there for this. 

“Dani,” she began, kneeling in front of Dani, who was still reclining on the sofa, bored out of her mind. 

“Why so happy?” Dani asked, clearly venting her misery now that they were safe. 

“Here, Dani, have a look,” Grace held up the mirror with both hands, and Dani’s eyes instantly dropped from studying the blonde woman’s face to her reflection. 

Dani was startled at first, but then leaned in closer to study herself, reaching for to hold the mirror herself. Grace grinned with satisfaction, lighthearted as she watched Dani do the same thing she did in the bathroom moments ago, touching her face, as if their minds could simply touch color and not skin. Dani’s thumb ghosted over her lip as she continued to explore, and the action grabbed Grace’s attention, loving the slight plumpness of Dani’s mouth, being especially hypnotized by the wet shine on her bottom lip. 

“You’re beautiful, Dani.” Grace regretted it the second she finished, Dani’s dark eyes breaking from the mirror’s spell to sharply look at her. “I- I hope that’s okay to say...”

_ We need to talk about this _ , Grace’s internal conscious advised. Dani simply just looked at her, but her jaw slowly set.

“We, we need to talk about this,” Grace repeated her thoughts. 

“About what?” Dani asked, playing dumb.

“You know what,” Grace said firmly, standing her ground. “What I am to you, what you are to me...”

“ _ Soulmates _ , you mean?” Dani had said the word with difficulty, as if it was a new word to her third language lexicon.

“Yes.”

“What’s there to say? I barely know you,” Dani said. Grace knew emotional masks when she saw them, and Dani was definitely wearing one. 

“So let’s get to know each other,” Grace suggested. “It can’t hurt.”

Dani repositioned herself as she sat further up on the couch, still keeping her foot elevated by the pillow. 

“I don’t think this is the place,” Dani said, an eyebrow raising in irritation. Grace didn’t understand. Why was Dani so hard to talk to? She had gone from easy speaking Commander and comforting chaplain, to a closed off negative aquaintance. 

“Is it because of what you heard me and the other soldiers talking about?” Grace tried, scooting closer to Dani.

“Meaning?”

“Morgan,” Grace said. She studied Dani’s face, who was looking back at her with a blank expression. “You didn’t know his name, of course, I’m sorry.” Anger and embarrassment flashed over Dani’s face. “It’s okay, Dani, you can’t know us all,” Grace reached out to squeeze Dani’s arm. “It doesn’t make you a bad leader, if that’s what you’re feeling. Don’t treat yourself like that. Anyway, he was the one talking about who we would pick for life partners, and he suggested that I would pick you, and that I have looked at you…  _ that way _ .”

“Have you?” Dani asked, looking away, a warm blush burned under her cheeks. 

“I-” Grace stuttered. Lying probably wouldn’t be a good choice, “I uh, have.” She cleared her throat. “But don’t confuse me for some soldier jerking off in the barracks or something. Dani, I have had nothing but overflowing respect for you. I’m awed by your history, what you’ve done for all of us, and every time I see you, I can’t help but think: this is what a woman is- strong, resilient, clever, calculating, and proud. Everything about you, inside and out, is what everyone should want in a life partner. You’re everything I would want to be and have. You’re perfect.”

Dani swallowed, keeping her eyes away from her still.

Grace frowned, her spirits falling. “I’m not expecting you to just jump into a relationship with me. Being soulmates doesn’t mean you’re forced to do anything with me. But… does it not hurt you, Dani? To be here, having found each other, and not at least try to be friendly at the very least? Everyone dreams of this…”

“Well I’m sorry to ruin your dream,” Dani then said. “I can’t give you what you want.”

Grace watched Dani as she turned to face her, those brown eyes turning slightly pink.

“Why?” Grace asked in a whisper.

Dani took a second to respond, her eyes searching Grace’s face, looking at her nose, her lips- anything but her eyes. “Because I can’t, isn’t that good enough?”

Grace swallowed, feeling her throat tighten with emotion. “I don’t understand why you have changed…”

Dani’s raised an eyebrow, “Changed? You don’t know me.”

“I know you had enough respect for me before we touched. And then we brought each other a colorful world… and you want nothing to do with me.” Dani was still actively trying to avoid eye-contact. 

Taking a shaky breath, Grace had one more question for Dani, “Are you ashamed of me?”

This caught Dani’s attention, her focus now seeking Grace’s eyes. There was a mixture of emotion behind those eyes, filled with rage and shame. 

“Is it because you’re Commander Ramos and I’m a nobody? Another nameless soldier?” Grace continued. “Hoping for someone of your pedigree?” 

Dani opened her mouth to retort, but the Commander was bashfully mute. 

“I understand,” Grace muttered, anger now brewing in her own chest. “Well, don’t worry, if we make it out of here, I won’t tell anyone. You can go off and forget about me, pick someone who makes more sense to you.” 

Grace then got up and left, returning to the hallways of the cabin, searching for the bathroom. She closed the door, locked it, sat on the edge of the tub and put her face in her hands. 

She wanted to scream, feeling nothing but low and unworthy after all that. But she couldn’t have Dani hear, so she just settled for heavy and warm tears sliding down her cheeks, silently huffing her emotion. 


	5. # The Bright Blessed Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just another day in the woods... plus a terminator.

Dani knew she needed to fix this, but following Grace in this height of emotion wasn't the right move. They both needed space. Dani chewed her lip as she looked around the dusty room, as if somewhere in the scavenged remnants of this home lay the answer to this problem. 

But Dani knew the solution: she had to make up her mind. Did she want Grace? Not too long ago Dani was gripping over not having someone to love, someone that was just her own, fueled by her disdain of fate. She was always fighting fate, always seeing any and all misfortunes as actions of fate’s hands, and she would always be there to give fate a big fuck-you by overcoming whatever it was. 

So was she fighting Grace or was she fighting the ghost of fate? An imaginary figure that her fists would swing through without any contact. 

Her mind began working the situation around in ways that her bias could accept, trying to find an angle to trick herself into being open with Grace, but pride is a stubborn beast, with many layers of armor that need dismantling.

So Dani asked herself the question once again: did she want Grace?

_ Yes. _

Her internal monologue stronger than her conscious self. Dani’s heart fluttered with the fear of the unknown, then sat up, carefully swinging her legs over so she could place her feet on the floor. 

Getting up was going to be a little tricky, but she owed it to Grace, and the bond that they only shared between each other, to walk over to Grace and fix this some how, even if it meant taking the slowest steps Dani had ever taken in her life. She put as much weight on her good foot as possible, logically, and then lightly hovered her injured one. This might be more complicated than Dani anticipated.

The bathroom door opened, and Dani’s heart jolted at the clicking of the door handle. 

“Grace?” Dani asked, turning her body slightly, but pushed down on her bad foot, sending an electric bolt of pain up her leg. 

“Yes,” Grace muttered, her tone giving way to a bit of an attitude, as if she wanted to say  _ who else could it be _ ?

“Listen, Grace,” Dani began, making small hops to turn herself around. “About earlier-”

“Don’t worry about it,” Grace waved dismissively. “Don’t want to talk about it anyway.” 

Dani could see the blonde’s eyes were still faintly pink, and she felt true remorse for speaking so harshly earlier. She didn’t want to make Grace cry.

“But-”

“Dani, please, not now,” Grace held up a hand to stop Dani’s words. She sighed, then held out her other hand. “I found some painkillers… don’t know if you wanna test those out, since even medicine can expire.” She tossed the bottle to Dani, who clumsily caught it, its contents shaking like a rattle. “Listen, I’m a little hungry, as you may imagine, so I’m just gonna take one of the rations to a room, okay? I’ll get you one too, then give you your space.” 

“Grace…” Dani wanted to urge the soldier to stay with her, to sit in silence and eat than to put this new barrier between them, but… Grace’s expression said it all. It didn’t matter what Dani may have wanted, Grace deserved the space she was asking for, it wasn’t Dani’s place to force the soldier into accelerating her healing process. She just hoped that it didn’t naturally take too long. “Okay, that’s fine, Grace. Can I see you sometime before sunset, though? I would like to review the map with you so we can discuss our next step.” This was true. 

“Yes, Commander.” Grace nodded, before reaching down to pull two rations out of the first aid kit at random, handing one to Dani. 

_ Fuck _ , Dani thought at the regression into formalities. 

Grace took her leave, returning back down the hallway to close a door behind her. 

The hours went by agonizingly slow, especially since Grace kept to her room, and Dani kept falling in and out of sleep on the couch, her ankle stinging from time to time. She wondered how Grace was passing the time, but assumed that the soldier was dead with sleep, having exerted way too much energy in having taken them here, especially when she was recovering from a critical wound. Dani on the other hand? A broken ankle in comparison to recovering from a severe puncture wound in the abdomen? Dani felt ridiculous and over-valued. 

She waited and waited for when Grace was ready to come plan with her, and as the sun was setting, blossoming pink and orange into the sky, Grace came out of her room. 

She looked like she had woken early from hibernation, drowsiness evident in her limbs as she dragged her feet to sit next to Dani, at the Commander’s feet, her eyes taking a quick assessment of Dani’s ankle.

“So,” Dani began, pulling her map from her pocket and unfolding it to rest on her outstretched legs, so Grace could view without straining her neck too far. “Yesterday we didn’t travel far at all, about an hour or so, and today we traveled for…”

“Three hours, give or take,” Grace filled in. 

“Yes, so four hours on feet doesn’t really take us very far, so perhaps we have another 3 or so hours of travel to make it to the stream. However, with these water jugs, we can fill some canteens or something we may find in this cabin. That can be our next checkpoint. Then perhaps another 4 or so hours and we'll be in sight of base." 

"Sounds like a solid plan," Grace nodded as she looked at the map. "Not too bad, I guess. It's only taking us so long because we're injured." 

"Pretty much," Dani agreed. "We may not have to ration our meals so much anymore. Maybe just one day of rest and then we head out." 

"Agreed. If this is our timetable, we can afford a day of rest. We need it, if not more," Grace said. "But we still need to be careful while staying here. While we are safe from the fall wind, there's still no real warmth in this shelter, save for the blankets in the rooms. Sure we have a fireplace, but a smoke signal can draw the attention of terminators."

"And our people," Dani inserted.

"Yes, but if both factions arrive, who is to say the outcome may be. We may just have to do this the old fashioned way- stay in the smallest room with all doors and windows shut."

"Alright," Dani agreed. "Have you searched the whole cabin yet?"

"No, I rested after our… talk."

"Well, let's have a look then, calculate all our valuables so that we know we are as ready as can be before setting out." 

Grace simply nodded and got up, mumbling about going to scavenge the room she had been resting in. 

Dani dragged herself to the other room, despite Grace's awkward efforts to stop her. As if she wanted for Dani to rest, but was still tender from her recovering emotions to really put her foot down. By the end of their search of the entire interior of the house, they really hadn't found anything of traveling use except for extra bandages, dry (and musty) clothes, an unused bar of soap, and after a few hours of pressing their ears against a safe, procured a colt pistol and a few boxes of ammunition. It wasn't much when fighting a terminator in open combat, but with patient, precise, and stealthy headshots, it could be useful in taking down any unsuspecting threat.

In a bout of more narcissism than sportsmanship, both Dani and Grace lightly  _ discussed _ who was the better shot, therefore who should carry the firearm. Not wanting to raise anymore of bad blood, Dani painfully surrendered into "... how about we just decide tomorrow who gets to have it?"

They then ate a late dinner of rations, this one containing a beef soup base and heavy chunks of dried fruit. It always came with a standard protein bar, which both women unenthusiastically chewed, thankful for the water this time. Dani was grateful that Grace had chosen to have dinner in the same room with her, but made no comment, still too concerned about where Grace was considering the two of them. 

Then, the night was too strong to resist, and both women felt the need to sleep. Grace helped Dani walk over to the room she had been sleeping in earlier, finding this room the best one suitable for their plans to stay warm, especially since it had the larger bed. She propped Dani’s foot up with a pillow as she had done for her on the couch, and even made sure Dani was covered thoroughly with the blanket. Quietly Grace slipped under the heavy quilted covers next to her, but kept her distance- more than she did under the blanket of leaves they shared the previous night. 

_ Damn, was that really just last night?  _ Dani thought, as she tried to distract herself from the residual pain in her foot. That night was so much warmer than this one, and Dani knew it was from Grace being so close, but tonight, thanks to Dani’s fear, the closeness and warmth had been withheld. Grace was practically teetering on the edge of the bed. Dani wanted to suggest they sleep closer, but kept herself mute. She still didn’t deserve Grace’s personal attention just yet.

* * *

When Dani woke up in the morning, she could see her own breath, clouding in a curling string of fog. She stirred slowly, not wanting to touch any inch of the cold spots of the blanket more than she had to, and looked over to Grace. The soldier was still asleep, the fog of her breath ghosting out of her partly opened lips. 

Dani’s eyes searched for the one window in the room, her eyes squinting at the bright white silhouette.

“It snowed…” Dani muttered under her breath, half astounded, half annoyed.

Grace now began to stir, a blue eye peeking open in a squint.

“Why’s it so cold?” she asked, confused, her voice croaking just a bit.

“It snowed overnight,” Dani explained. “Perhaps we can light a small controlled fire in the room? Just for warmth? Small enough to not leave a big smoke trail if we crack the window?”

Grace’s brow furrowed as she curled the blanket closer to her chest. 

“We could,” she said, “There were loads of old letters and bills in a junk drawer in the kitchen, could use those as kindle for the flint. We’ll set that up, then I’ll have a look outside to see how bad the smoke is, determine if we keep it or not.”

“Then we can heat something in a ration, have a warm meal for once,” Dani suggested. 

Then, neither woman said anything, not moving a muscle. Dani could see Grace’s lip twitch, and she wondered if she was thinking the same thing Dani was.

“So… when are we getting out?” Grace then asked. Dani couldn’t hide her smile. 

“Not wanting to go out into the cold either, huh?” Dani grinned.

“I mean, we have to,” Grace said.

Still no woman moved. 

“Give it like ten more minutes?”

“... yeah, I guess,” Grace murmured, pulling the blanket even closer to her.

“Save some for me,” Dani said, tugging some of the blanket back to her side.

Grace raised an eyebrow as she looked over her shoulder. “You got plenty over there.” 

“Uh, no,” Dani chuckled, yanking more back, using excessive force, the blanket whooshing off Grace’s body.

The soldier flipped her body around quickly, so she could face Dani and dig her hands into the comforter, trying to tug back. 

“No, no no,” Dani warned, rushing to scramble the thick folds of the blanket against herself. 

“Dani, it’s freezing!” Grace whined, but a smile was at the corner of her mouth. She tugged harshly at the blanket gathered mostly on Dani’s chest, lifting Dani’s back off the mattress as the Commander gripped on for dear life. “Let go!” She shook the blanket more, shaking Dani up and down with it. “Let me in!” 

Dani loosened her grip and Grace let her plop back onto the mattress. 

“Think I’ve got some kind of brain damage from all that shaking…” Dani murmured, looking up at the ceiling as she felt Grace hurriedly scramble into the blanket. It only took a few seconds for the blanket to feel delightfully warm, and Dani turned her head to look at Grace, finding her very close to her this time. It was probably just because Grace was dying to feel warm again that she didn’t think to unravel it back onto her side of the bed too. But it put Dani on edge, feeling her body seize, thinking that if she moved just an inch, Grace would realize and go back to what she thought Dani wanted: cold distance. 

But Grace had noticed just as suddenly as Dani did, and began removing herself from the bed, saying she was going to gather the paper and bills to light for their fire. Frowning, Dani stepped out of the bed too, her feet touching the cold wooden floors. She made her way to the pile of clothes they had scavenged, and found some thick hunter socks. She would do without Grace’s makeshift splint for the morning, warmth was more important right now. She put them on, enjoying the dry and warm comfort it provided. Grace came back with everything that was needed, kneeling on the floor and placing a cooking sheet down first, followed by a deep heavy pot on top. Then she dropped the old papers inside.

“I’m gonna step out,” Grace said, “Gather some sticks, so that it burns for longer.”

“Okay,” Dani said, sitting on the floor next to Grace’s tools, opening the First Aid Kit to pull out some more rations. She read through the titles: soup base, muesli, packed rice… she wished they could produce more meat, but the low reserves they had- how hard it was to domesticate animals in their bunkers… 

She pulled out the muesli packs, figuring it was a decent morning meal for what they had to deal with, especially if all they planned on doing today was resting. She could hear Grace stepping around outside, her boots crunching in the snow, hearing her quickly trying to brush snow off branches. It would be hard for Grace to find kindling dry enough that wasn't damp with snow, so Dani hoped the soldier wouldn't be out there long. 

However, within a few minutes of waiting, Dani’s stomach twisted with anxiety, as she no longer heard anything from outside. She stood up from her seat on the floor, and walked over to the window, looking out the pane to find Grace in the distance, but the tall blonde soldier was nowhere in sight. She must have travelled farther in search for usable wood.

Then, from deeper within the trees beyond the cabin echoed the sound of a slam, something crashing into the trunk of one of these ancient trees. Something was out there, and Grace was out there. Dani quickly rushed to grab the colt her and Grace had placed aside and tucked it in the back of her pants. Another boom sounded in the distance, Dani’s heart picked up in pace. She reached for her combat boots, gritting her teeth, growling at the pain as she shoved her swollen foot in it.

_ I have to get her, I have to help her… _

Dani quickly made her way down the hall and out the front door, limping as she tried to ignore the majority of the pain as she put a little more pressure than usual on her bad foot. 

_ I’m coming, I’m coming, _ Dani repeated in her mind, to comfort herself, as if she were speaking to Grace right now. 

There was another sound, and then a cry in the sky. Grace had shouted, and Dani couldn’t tell if it was a battle cry or a bad sign. She picked up her pace even quicker. 

_ I’m coming, I’m coming, Grace. _

Dani ignored the clouds of her breath plumming into her vision as she pushed farther and farther into the woods, following her senses, passing naked aspen trees and enormous evergreens, their limbs bending with the weight of wet snowfall. She knew she was taking too much time, and she cursed both Grace for going so far, and herself, for being broken to begin with. She tried not to think about it as each step she took, she still hadn’t found Grace. When she did though, she didn’t even hesitate. She took off, ignoring everything her body was screaming.

Grace was gripping onto a fallen log, her hands and face marble white, her lips purple, her whole upper body shaking, as her abdomen and lower body was submerged into a dark lake. 

Dani came down on her knees when she was close enough, reaching out to grab Grace by her shoulders.

“I’ve got you, I’ve got you,” Dani muttered nervously. From her perspective, she could see at the bottom of the lake, faint red eyes. Dani’s rational had figured out the story itself: Grace had fought off a terminator, and mother nature gave her a hand, breaking the thin ice beneath both their feet as they brawled. The machine had slipped to the bottom, and Grace must have submerged as well, as her hair was wet and dark brown, but found the strength to come back up, only to lose all her body warmth by the time she reached out for the log. 

Grace was shaking terribly, and couldn’t even grab onto Dani as the Commander tugged with all her strength. She didn’t really expect Grace to help, the soldier too weak to be anything but dead weight, but wished she herself was stronger.

“Here, take…” Dani freed Grace from her well of deep blue water from the frozen lake, taking them both to their feet. “Take my jacket. We have to get you out of these clothes, but we obviously can’t do that now, so for now, I’m going to try to protect you from the wind at least, until we make it back home.” She removed her military jacket awkwardly, as Grace shivered against her violently, dead moans barely escaping her throat. She then draped it on Grace’s shoulders, knowing it wouldn’t really fit her broad form. “Alright, let’s go, I’ve got you, I’ve got you.”

They began walking, but it was even more difficult with Grace because she could barely move her legs. 

“We’re gonna be really warm here soon, Grace, don’t you worry,” Dani tried to motivate. “Everything’s going to be alright, you’re going to be just fine.” 

Dani had never felt such anxiety in her entire life, terrified that Grace would just collapse on her any second now and just slip away from this world in a matter of seconds. She couldn’t let that happen. She saved Grace’s life once before, she would do it again. 

When the cabin was on the horizon, Dani swore a prayer of thanks to whatever higher power was out there. She pushed them through the door and to the bedroom they were sharing. 

“You’ve gotta get out of these clothes,” Dani said, feeling hope for the first time in this situation. It felt more in her control. Grace let Dani remove what she could, the poor fatigued soldier shaking as she tried to stand still for Dani. Dani yanked off Grace’s sweater and undershirt, Grace’s arms being yanked with the movement, then Dani knelt to untie the laces of Grace’s boots. 

“Sit,” Dani instructed gently, and Grace numbly obeyed, falling onto the bed. Dani pulled her boots and wet socks off, then undid the button of the soldier’s trousers and underwear, tugging them off her legs. “We’re gonna wrap up in the blanket until you’re better, okay?” Dani informed. “Lie down completely, I’m going to join you.” 

Then Dani began removing her clothing as quick as she could, placing the colt down next to the fire pan they were going to use, and groaned as she removed her combat boots. Her shirt and trousers dropped to the floor quick. Dani didn’t think she had undressed faster in her life. 

“I have to keep you warm,” Dani then said, feeling like she should let Grace know why she was nude too.

“I… I… kn-kn-ow,” Grace uttered, her teeth chattering. 

Dani climbed onto the bed and lowered her body onto Grace’s, seething at the frozen flesh underneath her own warm belly. She wrapped her arms around Grace’s back and slipped a leg between Grace’s thighs, cradling her head in the crook of Grace’s neck. She began to rub Grace’s back quickly, trying to create heat through friction, and pressed her front against Grace’s chest, changing how she burrowed against the soldier every few seconds, trying to create friction as well, but too afraid to remove heat from this critical area. Dani then reached for the blanket that was underneath them, and pulled the edges quickly to envelope them, making sure that it also swaddled Grace’s head. The most important areas were Grace’s head and chest. A great portion of body heat was known to naturally be lost through the head, and keeping the vital organs warm, vulnerable from the belly, was deathly important.

“Everything’s going to be okay,” Dani said again. “You’re going to feel better real soon, I’ve got this under control.” She began to move her whole body slowly, rubbing herself against Grace’s back, sides, chest, stomach, and legs, urging warmth to return. She had to keep herself warm too, to that Grace could feed and leech every ounce of heat she could generate. Grace continued to shiver in her arms, but her breathing seemed to been evening to a normal tempo, so that was a good sign.

“Grace?” Dani asked, just wanting to check Grace’s mental capabilities right now, seeing just how far the hypothermia was being fought. 

“Y-y-es?” Grace asked. 

“Where are we?”

“In-in… a ca-cabin in the-the- the woods…”

“Do you feel my warmth? Can you register it?”

“Y-e-yes. Th-thank you, Da-dani.” 

“Nothing to thank for, Grace,” Dani said, happy that things would be okay as long as they stayed together. She then kissed Grace’s collar bone, driven by a subconscious thought. Grace seemed to shiver stronger for a brief second, and Dani blushed as she realized what she just did. “Just don’t… just don’t fall asleep on me, okay?”

“O-ok-kay…”

Dani burrowed against Grace again, feeling friction was overdue. She could feel Grace finding the strength to hold onto her in return, and her mind trailed off into thoughts she hadn’t been down in years. It was a future, delicate in the making, but still very much possible. A future with Grace, outside of this war, together, happy, alone in the woods. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lovin' may happen next episode lol  
Hold fast, my friends 😘


	6. # The Dark Sacred Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We all just need to vent. Makes room for the good stuff. Healing and growth.

Grace stopped shivering a good half-hour ago, but neither woman spoke of separation. The cabin was quiet, not even the womens breathing could be picked up by ear. They just simply rested, no words, no movements, just dead decadent weight and warmth, wrapped in the heavy quilt, arms eveloping and legs between thighs. Both of them knew this stretch of peace and healing probably wouldn’t last long. In all reality, while the weather was a blessing in disguise, the terminator at the bottom of the lake would keep moving, no matter how stiff with cold its metallic joints were, moving at the speed of frozen molasses. It would eventually surface and find them. Grace hoped the weather would keep up, getting colder and colder, hopefully freezing the body of water with the terminator in it. 

Grace also hoped that maybe Dani would kiss her skin again. She could have sworn it jump started her heart, and if Dani really wanted to get Grace’s body temperature up again, increasing her heartbeat was the way to go. So why not another kiss? On her collarbone, on her neck, her chin, her lips? Grace felt a stronger warmth below her stomach.  _ Time to stop these thoughts. _

“Dani?” Grace asked quietly. Dani murmured acknowledgement. “I think I’m all good now…” 

Dani shuffled slowly, lifting her body off of Grace, and the soldier immediately regretted telling her the truth, but it was the right thing to do, and that was always the honorable path. 

“You sure?” Dani asked. 

Grace nodded, fighting temptation to pull Dani back down. With all the power she harvested from her respect for Dani, she kept her eyes focused on Dani’s face, not once trailing down to catch glimpses of her body. Dani climbed out of the bed and quickly flung the flap of the blanket back on Grace, still determined to keep her warm. Grace watched as Dani went through the clothes they had gathered within the cabin, putting on a pair of grey sweats and a maroon hoodie. She then went through their pile once more, picking out a set of sweats for Grace and pairs of thick wool socks for them both. 

Sluggishly, Grace put on the sweater and pants, her body absolutely exhausted from the trauma of the day. She could smell a faint must on the garments, but expected as much from a home that hadn't been inhabited in for about 20 years, give or take. 

She then pulled her socks on, feeling anxious as Dani walked towards the window. She didn't know why really, probably thought the terminator would be just outside their doorstep in a silly bout of oversensitive paranoia. 

"It's really coming down," Dani observed. "I don't think we will be leaving here any time soon, we are not equipped to travel in this on foot."

"But if winter has started early, then we kind of have no choice," Grace contributed, "it's either head out when it's snowing less, or spend all of winter in here, which is… pretty impossible."

Dani's eyes grew worrisome as she continued to look outside, watching all the thick and heavy snowflakes flurry down around the cabin and coating the trees. 

"If only," she daydreamed aloud. "If only we could just wait it all in here." 

Grace wouldn't mind that. If they had the resources of course. She was devoted to the cause of the war against the machines, just as Dani was, but everyone needs a break and nothing is more tempting than being offered a moment to rest your feet. 

"Maybe our people will find us," Grace offered, trying to stay positive instead of turning to realism. Maybe they were going to die in this cabin, that was a very real possibility. Whining about it or pacing about it wasn't going to stop that and make everything okay, so she might as well just take the situation for what it was. 

"Maybe…" Dani said. "We can take our chance with that fireplace…" She turned away from the window. "If we're gonna die here because of the seasons, what's the problem with testing our luck with using the fireplace? Man-made campfire smoke is easy to determine over fire caused by destruction. Any scout who catches it will know it's human made."

"That's true, it's an obvious beacon," Grace nodded, "for terminators and humans…"

"Yeah," Dani said quietly, "but there's no other choice. We can't make it on our own…"

"Then let's try it, Dani," Grace made her way to the window, standing beside her. The bright white of the snow was overwhelming. "You're right, let's give it a shot."

"You're not going back out for firewood," Dani instructed, turning her head to look up at Grace. 

"Don't worry," Grace chuckled.

"We will just break down the kitchen chairs or cabinet doors or something," Dani said. Grace nodded in agreement. "And then, please Grace, let's eat."

"Yes," Grace tried not to think about how empty her stomach was or how lightheaded it made her feel.

It didn't take long for at all for them to set up. Dani moved their blankets and the food to the living room while Grace lifted chairs above her head, slamming them down on the floor, wooden legs and beams collapsing under the crash. They threw the pieces into the fireplace, and began to shave the flint into the pile, watching spark after spark until it ignited a small patch of fire on the wood, mildly growing into a decent sized fire. 

The women both groaned in comfort at the heat, not having felt something so wonderful in days. They sat down on the floor in front of the fire, wrapped in their blankets, with their backs against the sofa. 

"What did you get in your bag?" Grace asked before slowly drinking the warm soup broth from her canteen. They had opened new ration bags because fuck it, they probably were going to die here. 

"Uh," Dani put her canteen down to rummage through her bag. "Some preserved pound cake, some diced pears, jerky… uh, standard protein bar…"

"I'll trade you this weird-ass poptart looking thing for your poundcake," Grace offered, holding the packet out. 

"Hell no," Dani muttered with a grin, taking a large bite out of her slice of poundcake. "Those tart things are gross."

Grace groaned but took back her piece, muttering with a chuckle as she opened the wrapper. 

"So," Dani began, taking a swig of her drink after swallowing that piece of cake. "How did you end up fighting that terminator?" 

Grace nibbled on her tart with a sour look on her face. "There wasn't a stack of firewood near the cabin, which is downright ridiculous, but I guess someone else might have taken shelter here after The End before us and used it all, so I went into the woods to look for dry kindle. It actually wasn't too far from the cabin. Chillingly close, in fact. I made sure he saw me," Grace took a bigger bite out of the tart because she just needed to eat, "didn't want it finding you. Figured luring it away was the best to keep this safe house safe. It came after me pretty quick, but I ran as fast as I could and we started fighting near the lake. I had no idea it was there. The snow was all over it," Grace made a motion with her hand, cutting it over an invisible horizon, simulating the flat expanse of the snow-covered land. "It threw me pretty hard and fast, and I knew something was up when I just  _ slid _ on the ground," Grace chuckled. 

"And then I just looked up from lying on the ground, saw how my body brushed away some snow- just a line of hard, dark blue, and I scrambled up so quickly! The terminator didn't seem to care, or just didn't recognize it, and came charging. I ran towards it too, but not to fight it, but to get off the ice. I ducked to the right when it tried to collide into me, and successfully evaded the brunt of its charge, but it turned around quick, and reached for my sweater, and pulled me back. It threw me on the ice and tried to punch me, but I moved my head, and its fist went through the ice, and it only took about one second for the cracks in the ice to just  _ lightning bolt _ and send us both underneath. God, Dani, it was the coldest thing I ever felt. It was the worst thing I have ever experienced. I don't think I can really explain it but a nauseating feel of absolute death. So sudden, so horrible."

"I'm so sorry I didn't get to you sooner. So sorry I couldn't fight with you," Dani frowned. She couldn't begin to understand the pain of being taken under ice. 

"No apologies, Dani" Grace pardoned, taking a deep drain of her soup once more. "Neither of us knew that a terminator would should up. Speaking of which," Grace put down her canteen, her eyebrows furrowing in determination. "Dani, don't you find it odd that we are only running into solitary terminators?"

Dani raised her eyebrow, wondering where Grace was going to go with this. "I mean it's only been two incidences."

Grace nodded, determination still on her face, "Yes, yes, but… think back on our few missions. When was the last time we had a full on battle with the terminators? Platoons verses waves of machines?"

"About two months ago or so, give or take." 

"Exactly, and it was  _ one of the worst _ we had ever seen. I don't even know how we made it. I had about seven near-death experiences in that fight."

"You were there?" Dani asked, feeling a sense of peculiarity, thinking about how Grace existed in her life, in the same space and struggles all this time and they never directly crossed paths.

"Of course," Grace said proudly, "I'll always wanna be there for the hardest fights. But anyway, that's been it right? Then this mission- to wipe out a small nest. What other intel do we have on the terminators? Where are they? We were shot down yet there was no intel about a SAM being in the area. What's the intel?"

Technically, Grace didn't have the clearance to know about terminator movements or garrisons unless it directly affected her mission, but Dani figured clearances could go out the window just for this. She was commander after all. 

"We haven't had anything new since then," Dani answered. "Since the last battle two months ago. Just small nests of the weakest archetypes."

Grace nodded, the conversation obviously going where she wanted it to. "Because we're winning." She said coincidently. "There's none of them left. None to form a force, at least. It's just stragglers."

Dani's heart began to beat with anxiety. She was beginning to think this for the past few weeks, but that was a dangerous thought. It couldn't be true. She always dreamed of the day they were victorious, but after years of exposure to this war, victory seemed farther and farther away. More and more like a fairy-tale.

"That can't be," Dani said, shaking her head. "There's gotta be more. Like a- like a strategic withdraw or something…"

"That could be… but a two month withdraw? It's not like terminators to wait that long. We have destroyed almost all the Legion facilities. It's here, Dani, it's here," Grace persisted.

Dani's chest rose with emotion, flooded by years of repressed hope and guilt. She bit her lip, feeling it coming, but couldn't stop it. Her eyes watered, heavy with tears that then slid down her face. 

"Dani!" Grace exclaimed in concern, reaching out for her. Dani shook her head vigorously, holding her own hand out to keep Grace at bay. 

"Don't," Dani whispered. Her outstretched hand slowly trembling into a closed fist, falling back down to her lap. She took a shaky breath, trying to regain control. With an exhale, her hands came to her face, covering her eyes. "Don't say such things."

"Dani," Grace pleaded softly.

"It's not true, it can't be." Dani wiped away a tear with vigor. "This will never end…" 

Grace scooted closer to Dani, moving cautiously slow. 

"It might be, Dani," Grace whispered. "And if it's not the finish line, we're pretty damn close…"

"Grace, we will always have to fight them. We can't, we can't w-"

Grace put a finger up to Dani's lips. "Dani," she said sternly. "Before I comment on what you almost said, I want you to know that I acknowledge your humanity. I know it's normal to give up hope from time to time. I know it's normal to not be who you were when you started a journey, so I'm not going to bombard you with the 'where's the Commander Ramos I know?' shit. Don't forget the normalcy of your humanity. But I am going to keep you fighting  _ with pride _ . Who you are now is strong enough to take a knee and get back up later."

"Grace-"

"You're in denial because all you've known is more than any soldier out there," Grace continued. "I only know my losses. You know them all. Every soldier, and that has been, no doubt, so heavy for you. You feel like dying every time we lose someone. I saw it when we survived the crash. Dani, you feel everything, and there's nothing wrong with being connected to your cause, but don't feel like we can't secure victory because it has taken this long. Weather a journey turns out to be a mile or a hundred long, the only way you cross the finish line is to keep going. You guarantee failure by stopping, not by continuing the fight. If we're winning, then we're winning. If it's actually a year from now, or 10 years from now. But wouldn't you rather have a tangible window than an undetermined timeline?"

“All I can think about is how many people we’ve lost,” Dani confirmed, her voice shaking. She wanted to put this emotion behind her, press it down inside her like she had done for years, but now, with Grace hitting all her thoughts on target, she felt… like she wanted to be heard, finally. For years she didn’t want to tell anyone what was going on inside her, but she knew the politics of motivation: she couldn’t afford to be truly human to any of them. The second she would show any doubt or fear or anything  _ normal _ , people would lose faith in her, the resistance- and who knows, someone would probably get the bright idea to replace her through a coup. 

“I know,” Grace sympathized, reaching over to squeeze Dani’s shoulder. “We lost a lot of people, brave soldiers, hardworking and innocent civilians. And we will never forget everyone we lost when The End began.”

Dani’s eyes watered even more as her mind’s eye assaulted her with visions of Diego and Papi.  _ Everyone we lost _ . 

“It’s almost done, Dani, it’s almost over. Just consider it, Dani, we may be able to finally restart, rebuild the world without fear again,” Grace scooted closer, rubbing a hand up and down Dani’s back. “It’s okay to feel hope again, Dani.” She said that so softly, pulling Dani into her arms. The wounded commander didn’t hesitate to envelope her soldier in the embrace. She rested her head on Grace’s shoulder, her tears free flowing and red hot. 

“Is it?” Dani whimpered in Grace’s neck. 

“Yes,” Grace soothed, “It’s not a waste of heart. We’re all behind you, no matter what, even if you need to take a moment to yourself. This is  _ our _ fight, it never was or will be just yours. You’re not alone. No matter what that one side of your mind tries to tell you- don’t listen to it: you’re never alone, even if all you’ve got is just me.”

Dani burrowed into the hug further, as close as she could without actually burrowing into Grace’s chest, down into her ribcage, shivered a sigh, and then just began to sob. Everything she had in her, healing through the burning purge of weeping, like open floodgate, yet held in the security of trustworthy arms. 

* * *

Dani had fallen asleep after her emotions subsided, as Grace lowered them both down to the ground so she could rest, her breathing so serene and calm. When she had woken up, she felt different. She was still resting on Grace’s chest, her body resting on top of the soldier’s, and her body just felt so light, her heart felt strangely empty. Not in a bad way, she couldn’t place it. Like everything poisonous had been bled out of her, leaving her with a floating sensation, waiting to be filled with something better. Something healthier. Something with vitality. 

She shuffled up to rest on her hip. Grace, lying down on her back, sat up too. 

“Hey,” she said softly. “How are you feeling?”

“Better,” Dani said, “Much better, thank you. For everything.”

“Of course, Dani, I’ll always be here for you.”

“I mean it, Grace,” Dani said, “I don’t think I’ve ever had anyone to talk to ever since this all started. I also…” she wrung her hands for a quick second, before mustering her pride, “I also wanted to apologize.”

“For what?” Grace asked genuinely. 

“For everything,” Dani said. “For how I’ve treated you.” 

“Oh,” Grace looked surprised, “That’s not necessary, Dani, you were under a lot of stress.”

“I was,” Dani agreed, “Stress that you helped me with. But I should never have been so rude or acidic to you because of it. It wasn’t fair. None of it was your fault, therefore you didn’t deserve the treatment.” 

“Well, thank you, Dani,” Grace smiled politely. 

Dani found herself looking at Grace, admiring the soft pink in her cheeks, the crystals in the irises of her blue eyes, the shades of gold and copper in her hair. She had one more thing to say to Grace.

“I also wanted to say,” Dani began quietly, maintaining eye contact with Grace, “that I accept you as my soulmate.” 

Grace froze. 

“And,” Dani continued, nervously filling the silence, “I’m sorry, again, for how I treated you on that matter. You’ve only been kind and encouraging, and respectful to me, and I was too afraid to let fate give me something good. Some _ one _ good and happy. I’m so used to fate taking everything away that all I wanted to do upon finding you out was to push you away, as if you were some kind of Trojan horse, just waiting to open up more misery when I least expect it. And, a part of me is still afraid that this may happen, but in life, no one can tell how long something amazing will last, but it’s better to have it for a little while than not at all. And when I saved you for the second time, pulling you out of that ice water, I knew I didn’t want to lose you again. Not again. Never again.”

Grace was still silent, eyes wide, paralyzed. All that could be heard was the crackling of the fire.

“I’m sorry,” Dani repeated again, and leaned forward, pressing a soft kiss against Grace’s lips. “And I understand if you aren’t warm to me anymore, after how I have treated you. I just wanted you to know, if you’re still interested, I’ll wait for you to accept me again.”

“Dani,” Grace whispered, reaching up to touch Dani’s cheek. “I’ll never reject you. Like I said, I’ll always be here for you.” She took it upon herself to kiss Dani back, pulling her closer. Dani reciprocated, deepening the kiss, feeling that empty spot in her chest filling with euphoria. Grace held Dani against her gently as they shared kiss after kiss after kiss, trying to catch short breaths between them. It didn’t take long for them to open their mouths to one another, evolving their affection at an inticing pace. 

Then, both women jolted from each other as a startling sound landed against the front door. Dani looked over her shoulder as Grace looked ahead of her. Both watching the door, waiting for something to come crashing through, but nothing did. They could see from a window across the way that the wind was making all the tree branches dance in wild sways.

“Perhaps it’s just something sliding off the roof,” Grace suggested quietly. The sun was setting now, hues of bright pink and orange being cooled by a winter lilac sky. 

“Maybe,” Dani agreed, grunting slightly as she made her way to get up, putting a hand on a knee to push herself up. “I’ll go check…” 

As Dani was getting her footing, both women kept their eyes on the window, and as the wind shook violently again, pounds of snow fell off the roof, moving an icicle loose from its grip on the gutters, clinking heavily against the window in a sound similar to the previous. 

“Come back,” Grace muttered, reaching an arm around Dani’s waist, pulling the woman down into her lap so that Dani’s back was pressed against her front. “I was right,” she muttered, placing a delicate kiss on Dani’s neck. Dani was now sat between Grace’s legs. She felt the soldier move her body forward, urging her to mimic her posture, sitting up so both their knees were bent like a sit-up instead of stretched out. Dani leaned her head back to rest on Grace’s shoulder, surrendering her trust to her soulmate as the woman roused her skin with kisses that awakened her nerves. Grace’s hands then began to explore Dani’s body, slowly dragging across her stomach to grip her rib cage or hip, simulating a brief massage, making Dani groan at the release of tension. Dani soon reached up herself, her fingers finding its way through blonde hair. 

“Is this okay?” Grace asked so quietly, tickling Dani’s ear. 

Dani felt a ghost of a shiver make its way all the way down her body down to her toes. “Yes,” she consented. 

Grace murmured mutual approval, her hands continuing their exploration, one rising up to rest below Dani’s breasts, and the other resting on top of her right thigh. 

“Can I?” Grace asked, just as quiet as before.

“Yes,” Dani repeated, swallowing hard at the overwhelming touch. “Touch me. Please.”

Grace let a shaky exhale ghost over Dani’s neck before her hands resumed, gently palming a breast as her other hand slide off of Dani’s one thigh to be between both of them. Dani rolled her head against Grace in response. The hand between her legs was added firm and slow pressure in a set rhythm, and it was doing its job in making Dani want to press herself against it. 

“Can we-” Dani asked after another roll of her hips.

“Yes,” Grace answered immediately. 

Dani raised her hips up as Grace held onto her, Dani reaching down for the waistband of her sweats. She hooked her thumbs against it and began to pull the trousers down along with her underwear, lowering her body to reach forward and pull them off once it passed her knees. When she leaned back against Grace, the soldier immediately replaced her hand, now continuing its rhythm against Dani’s wet folds. Dani moaned softly, much to Grace’s enjoyment, the soldier’s hand on her lover’s upper body tightening in response. Between Dani’s legs, Grace’s fingers slid down to rest above Dani’s entrance, pressing just a little before running back up to caress her clit, then repeat.

“Don’t torture me,” Dani whispered lightly. She felt Grace smile against her, laying a kiss on her cheek. 

“Yes, Dani,” Grace replied, and brought her fingertips against Dani’s slick entrance, pushing her middle and ring finger in all the way, hooking at her knuckles. Both women gasped at the initial penetration. Grace hung her head down, resting on Dani’s shoulder for a brief moment, whimpering at the sensation of being inside her soulmate. She then began a push and pull that was delectable to them both once she regained herself, working on gently loosening Dani up to her. 

“Oh my God,” Dani trembled, feeling Grace graze her gspot. A small part of her wished they could have been anywhere else. Somewhere safer. She also wished they were both healthy, so they could give themselves to one another easier, where Dani didn’t have to worry about applying pressure to Grace’s abdomen, where Grace didn’t have to keep her stable in fear of moving Dani’s injured foot. But she shook those thoughts away and tried to focus on the present, focus on Grace slipping inside easier and easier with each push. 

Grace’s left hand slid down to Dani’s inner thigh, massaging the warm muscle as her right hand continued to penetrate, making the whole area even more sensitive and receptive to touch. 

“It’s not going to take long,” Dani warned, her voice shaking. It was all too much. Grace felt amazing, and just the realization of their position was enough to keep the arousal building. She sat between Grace's legs, her own legs arched and spread wide for Grace's hand, tapping into her clit with each movement.

“That’s just fine, Dani,” Grace encouraged quietly, her hand still working devotedly. “You deserve to be satisfied.” Dani could feel it building inside her, Grace’s fingers summoning it with each curl. 

“I- I mean it, it’s gonna-”

“Then let me see you come, baby, don’t fight it,” Grace murmured, “Let me see you.” She bit Dani’s neck gently, causing Dani to stiffen for a moment in front of her. “The first of many.” 

Dani felt her head get lighter, and her body felt overburdened with tension, her orgasm peaking inside her. She reached down to hold Grace’s hand, moving the woman to the pace her climax demanded, desperately grinding against it. Somewhere in the back of her mind she could hear Grace exclaim in her ear with a weakened and surprised gasp, but she couldn’t focus on that. Not when all her body could do was seize up and her vocal chords could only formulate wanton moans. 

When the orgasm passed, and Dani was washed over with the drug of sex, she fell back against Grace’s chest, both breathing heavily. 

“Your turn?” Dani asked out of breath.

Grace shook her head weakly. “I uh, I kinda came with you there… I didn’t expect you to grab me hand. Took me by surprise and threw me over the edge…” 

Dani could feel the burn of Grace’s blush even from where her head rested on Grace’s shoulder. 

Dani chuckled the odds. “Well, at least you still came too…”

“Mhmm…” Grace murmured. “You feeling okay?”

“Of course,” Dani said in disbelief and smiled.

“Just checking,” Grace said, kissing Dani’s temple as the shorter woman straightened her sitting posture. “Let’s rest for now,” she proposed. “Have dinner in a few, then make our plan for surviving. Because we are, Dani. We’re getting out of this. I promise.”

“Okay,” Dani nodded. It felt good, this feeling. Trust. She trusted Grace. She believed her. 

They’d make it out alright. Grace would see to it, and Dani would be there to help along the way

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know what you think! I love comments lol  
Annndddd I love you! Have a good one!


End file.
